Whitbread, the FTSE-100 proprietor of the Premier Inn lodge chain, has kicked off the seek for a successor to Adam Crozier, its chairman.
Mr Crozier, who has chaired the corporate since 2018, is predicted to step down in some unspecified time in the future within the subsequent 12 months, though he wouldn’t be ‘timed out’ below company governance tips till 2026.
Beneath his stewardship, Whitbread has been radically reshaped, promoting its Costa Espresso subsidiary to The Coca-Cola Firm in 2019 for almost £4bn.
The corporate has additionally seen off an activist marketing campaign spearheaded by Elliott Advisers, whereas Mr Crozier additionally orchestrated the appointment of Dominic Paul, its chief govt, following Alison Brittain’s retirement.
Whitbread is now engaged in a plan to promote quite a few Beefeater and Brewers Fayre eating places because it seeks to give attention to the enlargement of Premier Inn.
It mentioned just lately that it sees potential to develop the community from 86,000 UK bedrooms to 125,000 over the following decade or so.
Mr Crozier is considered one of Britain’s most seasoned boardroom figures, and now chairs BT Group and Kantar, the market analysis and knowledge enterprise backed by Bain Capital and WPP Group.
He beforehand ran the Soccer Affiliation, ITV and – in between – Royal Mail Group, which throughout his interval in cost included the Submit Workplace.
Mr Crozier appeared as a witness on the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal earlier this yr.
On Tuesday morning, shares in Whitbread had been buying and selling at round 3083p, giving the corporate a market capitalisation of about £5.5bn.
Whitbread declined to remark.